Pulling Weeds

Melissa Dunlap is a writer, editor and blogger specializing in lifestyle communications. Fueled by curiosity, and a tad too much coffee, Melissa enjoys dissecting current trends for the modern woman. When she's not having dance parties w...

Regular weeding will help your garden look its best and encourage healthy plants.

Overgrowth of weeds make a garden an unsightly mess, but they do more harm underground when weed roots steal nutrients and space that belongs to your garden plants. Weeding a garden is an ongoing task, but it doesn't have to be a chore.

Overgrowth of weeds make a garden an unsightly mess, but they do more harm underground when weed roots steal nutrients and space that belongs to your garden plants. Weeding a garden is an ongoing task, but it doesn't have to be a chore.

The term "pulling weeds" is often used when we talk about weeding our gardens. The big problem with pulling is that the top of the weed breaks off, but the root is left below the soil surface. From an aesthetic point of view, pulling weeds by hand will make the garden surface look cleaner---for a day or two. The weeds will grow back and you need to repeat the process again.

Chemicals are an option, but if you're an organic gardener you may not want to add anything inorganic to the garden. By hand is the most organic way to weed. Weeding is easier with a tool, like a hoe or cultivator. Some weeding tools look like a curved fork or claw, and you use them to break up the soil so you can easily pull out the whole weed---roots included.

Before you start weeding, determine what you consider to be a weed. Grass in the garden is probably the only weed everyone can agree on. Dandelions, for example are weeds for some and wildflowers for others. Some people find wild horseradish to be an obnoxious weed, while others harvest it like a vegetable. The choice is yours. If you don't want it in the garden, take it out.

Remember to weed your garden regularly; once a week is a good way to stay on top of the situation. The phrase "grows like a weed" is true for a reason, and if you take a hiatus from weeding, you'll return to find a big job ahead of you.